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Football: CU Buffs athletic department suffers financial loss

By Brian Howell Buffzone.com

Posted:
05/07/2013 09:46:55 PM MDT

Updated:
05/09/2013 07:37:49 PM MDT

Bill McCartney006.JPG Former CU football Head Coach Bill McCartney, at right, shakes hands with Athletic Director Mike Bohn during an event on Tuesday, May 7, celebrating his recent election into the College Hall of Fame. For more photos and video of the event go to www.dailycamera.com
Jeremy Papasso/ Camera
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JEREMY PAPASSO
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WESTMINSTER -- A poor season on the gridiron will contribute to a losing year financially for the Colorado athletic department.

CU will show a significant financial loss when the fiscal year ends on June 30.

"We recognize that we'll have a deficit," CU athletic director Mike Bohn said on Tuesday at a media roundtable. "That is a deficit that we will be required to cover long-term within our plan and budgeting process."

It is too early to predict the total deficit because several factors could impact the bottom line, but Bohn said, "We recognize that this is a challenging year for us, for a lot of different reasons."

CU also had a deficit a year ago, but much of that was due to the penalty CU had to pay to leave the Big 12 for the Pac-12.

This year's deficit was not planned, as the football team struggled more than anyone anticipated. With a 1-11 record in football, the Buffs didn't bring in the revenue they normally do.

"We missed our ticket revenue piece on football dramatically," Bohn said. "When we miss our ticket revenue number in football by over $2 million, that creates a significant challenge for us."

Because of the poor performance on the field and, therefore, financially, CU decided to fire head coach Jon Embree. That led to CU needing to come up with more than $2 million to buy out the contracts of Embree and former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

CU then made a heavy financial commitment to new head football coach Mike MacIntyre and his staff.

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MacIntyre will make about $2 million annual; Embree made roughly $750,000.

While the football program contributed to the deficit, it wasn't the only factor. It didn't help that Pac-12 Enterprises, which has developed and launched Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Digital, has not produced any revenue for conference schools.

Bohn said Pac-12 Enterprises had a great year, in terms of producing roughly 750 events and giving the conference more exposure and that it could become profitable in the near future.

"We recognize the long-term vision to have that be a profitable enterprise for the league," he said.

Failure to reach a deal with DirecTV certainly impacted potential revenue for Pac-12 Enterprises. DirecTV is the only major provider that has not agreed to carry the Pac-12 Networks.

"Everyone associated with the Pac-12 and people in this room are frustrated by not having an agreement done with DirecTV," Bohn said. "But it's a top priority for (pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott) and his team with Pac-12 Enterprises."

According to the USA Today's database on college athletics finances, CU's athletic department turned a profit every year from 2006-2011.

"We knew when we made the move from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 that this two-to-three year window was going to be a challenge for us," Bohn said.

Bohn also stressed that the athletic department will use "no state money, no tuition money, no resources of that nature" to cover the deficit.

Notable

Bohn said CU is on pace with where it was a year ago with 75 percent of football season ticket holders renewing their tickets. ... Bohn said "the process is underway" for making enhancements to the contracts of men's basketball coach Tad Boyle and women's basketball coach Linda Lappe. ... Field turf will be installed at Kittredge Field on campus and permanent women's lacrosse markings will be included on that field. The turf will allow the women's lacrosse team, which will play its inaugural season in the spring of 2014, to play in inclement weather. ... Last month, there were reports that the Pac-12 was considering an eight-game conference schedule for football, down from the current nine-game model. Bohn said Tuesday, "That wasn't talked about and I don't believe it's really on the table."

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